1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to compaction blades and/or ejection blades used in refuse collection vehicles or storage compartments. More particularly, the invention pertains to a combination of compaction blade and feeder system for transmitting refuse into a storage compartment.
2. Prior Art
Numerous structures have been developed to compress refuse in a storage compartment to a smaller volume, thereby increasing the capacity for storage within a given storage compartment. Typically, such structures are referred to as compaction blades. Such compaction blades commonly form one of the retaining walls of the storage compartment which can be movably displaced inward by hydraulic cylinders or other means to reduce the storage compartment volume.
An example of such a compaction blade is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,252,600; 4,067,464, and 4,067,466. As shown therein, such compaction blades can also be utilized to eject refuse through a rearward, ejection door of the storage compartment. Also, disclosed in these patents is a hopper compartment which is disposed forward of the storage compartment for the purpose of providing a container into which refuse may be dumped. Such refuse is advanced into the storage compartment by actuation of the compaction blade which pushed the refuse rearward through an opening which feeds into the storage compartment.
An opposing arrangement is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,994,098 (Foote) which shows a compaction blade at one side of a storage compartment, and the refuse feeder assembly at the opposite side of the storage compartment. The feeder assembly in this patent comprises an arrangement of impeller blades which capture refuse falling thereon and advance such refuse into the storage compartment. The benefit of such impeller blades arises from their tendency to shred refuse and provide some compaction before advancing the refuse into storage. In this configuration, however, the compaction blade compresses refuse against the opening through which the feeder assembly must advance incoming refuse. As new refuse is introduced, it must push aside the large volume of compacted refuse which has been pushed into a blocking position at the opening from the feeder assembly. Obviously, this imposes a substantial inertial force which must be overcome by the impeller assembly as it pushes refuse against the compressed refuse in the storage compartment. This severely limits the storage capacity of the unit. Other embodiments have used impeller blades, but have avoided combination with compaction blades because of the problem set forth above. Impeller blades similar to those used in U.S. Pat. No. 3,944,098, were disclosed in earlier patents including U.S. Pat. No. 2,505,731 (Dear), U.S. Pat. No. 3,712,494 (Lindeborg), and U.S. Pat. No. 2,776,770 (Laber). Each of these impellers are within an impeller housing having a cylindrical configuration of substantially uniform radius. A tapered impeller blade is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,227,849 (Worthington). The advantage of this tapered blade when used in a tapered housing, includes increased shredding action which facilitates compaction as the refuse is advanced in the narrower section of the channel housing.
None of the prior art known to the inventor has presented useful solutions to the problems associated with the arrangement illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,944,098. These problems include the need to compact refuse which has been fed to a storage compartment by impeller blades. Even more important is the need for refuse compaction in a region of the storage compartment away from the impeller feeder assembly. Despite this long standing need, there appears to be strong favor in the industry toward positioning an impeller feeder assembly at an opposing location from the compaction blade so that compacted refuse is pushed toward the impeller feeder assembly. Alternatively, the unit does not even include compaction blades.